Prep softball: Redwood freshman ready to take the league by storm

Sabrina Nunez is too young to drive a car. But she's been driving opposing infielders crazy for years already.

Gifted with speed and bat control beyond her years, the 14-year-old Nunez is such a rare natural talent she made a verbal commitment to attend Cal before ever taking her first at-bat for the Redwood High softball team.

With the MCAL season in full swing, Nunez's lack of high school experience will be fleeting as the left-handed hitter is penciled in as Redwood coach Gary Casassa's leadoff batter.

Considering the elite level she has been playing at since she was 9 years old, Nunez should slip into her role for Redwood as easily as she slips on her glove to play center field or middle infield.

"I only saw her for the first time two or three weeks ago," Casassa said. "But I can already tell she lives up to all my expectations. She has all the tools. She's a natural leadoff hitter, a left-handed slap hitter, drag bunter and power hitter. She can't be easily defended. You can't teach height in basketball, you and can't teach speed in softball and she's got plenty of that."

Nunez cut her softball teeth playing for one of Southern California's most elite travel league teams, the Firecrackers, who won both a 10-under national title and 12-under national title with Nunez in the starting lineup.

She moved to Marin in the summer of 2012 with her family when her father accepted a job promotion and immediately joined Northern California's top travel league team, the Sorcerer, where she moved immediately into the starting lineup.

"Travel leagues have consumed a lot of my life," Nunez said. "But I have a real passion for it and really enjoy playing in them. It's exciting to play teams from other states in national tournaments."

So forgive Nunez if she is not overly intimidated by the prospect of stepping into the batter's box first for the Giants.

"I'm used to playing under some pressure," she said. "It's always kind of tough being a freshman playing varsity, but you want to prove yourself and it feels good once you do."

In a MCAL season reportedly loaded with young talent the tables might soon be turned, however, as opposing pitchers will be faced with the task of proving they can keep Nunez off the basepaths.

Having an effective leadoff batter is an enviable luxury for any coach.

"She can turn a drag bunt single into a double or a triple because of her speed and her ability to steal bases," Casassa said.

The level at which Nunez has already played on her travel league teams figures to have her prepared for most anything the opposition can throw at her.

In fact, she matter-of-factly says the pitching she faces in high school ball might not be quite up to speed compared to what she faces in summer ball.

"I think the pitching might be a little slower than I'm used to," she said. "But it might still be more challenging because the older pitchers have more variety on their pitches."

Nunez says she expects to see plenty of curve balls, change-ups, drop-balls and rise-balls, her personal nemesis.

"The rise-ball is hard to hit," she said. "It's hard to get on top of the ball. As a slapper and leadoff hitter, the worst thing you can do is pop the ball up. I try to lay off the rise pitch or move up in the batter's box and use a power slap to try to get on top of the ball."

Nunez takes private hitting lessons once a week with a personal coach in Concord. In the meantime, she practices her swing daily at the hitting station her dad set up for her in the garage.

"It's just a batting tee, a net and a bucket of balls," she said.

Everybody knows practice makes perfect, and Nunez has all the right stuff to be a perfect — not to mention potent — Redwood leadoff batter for years to come.

As impressed as Casassa is with Nunez's raw talent, he is even more impressed with her attitude.

"She's just a great kid," Casassa said. "She doesn't let anything go to her head. From what I can tell right now, she is ready to do whatever is best for team."